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Mask of Astaroth
Note: This article is mainly about the mastermind behind the Black Mask. The other versions of the Mask will only had their characteristics under the Black Mask Persona introduced, since they were either manipulated or connected to the mastermind's crimes. - Masked = - Host = - True Mask = - Final Form = }} |-|Other Hosts▾= - 1st Mask (Pawn) = - 2nd Mask (Pawn) = - 3rd Mask (Pretender) = }} |-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|name = Beatrice Benevolence Baker (host) Phyllis Peach (possessive mask) |alias = Mask, Mask of Black, Black Mask, Mask of Qliphoth, Mask of Astaroth, Beatrice Bergamot, First Mask, Second Mask, Third Mask, Lady Bergamot, Carl Robinson (pawn), Albert Apple (pawn), Gregory Grape (copycat), Malice of Moloch, Benevolence, the Baker, True Traitor, the Traitor, the Real Mask, Fourth Mask, the Mastermind, Phyllis Peach's Successor, Bergamot, The Mask Which is Her Face |gender = Female |kanji = アスタロスの仮面 |race = Black Demon (Formerly Human) |age = 2044 years old |status = Deceased |height = 1.75m |weight = 47kg |hair color = Purple |eye color = Purple |blood type = Black Demon Blood |affiliation = Astaroth Empire, Fallen Roman Catholic Church, Manufacturing Progressive Sciences, Triggers Hell, The Revelation of Qliphoth, Leohart's Cult |previous affiliation = Order of Flourish, Star Spangled Society, La Nueva Familia de Arzonia, The Alliance, Team Witness, Agency 355 |occupation = Astaroth Empire Agent, Leohart's Cult member, Will of Sascha Vykos |previous occupation = Order of Flourish Member, Star Spangled Society Memmer, Supporter of La Nueva Familia de Arzonia, Supporter of the Alliance, Team Witness Member, Agency 355 Member |partner(s) = Guinevere Arzonia, Evil Maria, Future Gregory Grape, Sascha Vykos, Cain Knightlord, |previous partner(s) = Black Raven, Vira, Michael Langdon, Kruel Rose, Aryana Westcott, Abyss Zurg, Selina Strawberry, Albert Apple, Kristen Kiwifruit, Helene Hawthorn, Calvin Cranberry, Baccarat Blueberry, Gregory Grape |base of operation = Nimbus Planet |evoice = Roger L. Jackson (disguise) Monica Rial (Beatrice)}} The Mask of Astaroth, also known as the Mask, the Mask of Black, the Black Mask and the Mask of Qliphoth, is a gender-unknown Astaroth Empire follower in Rise of Qliphoth era, who wears a black crow-like mask and dressed up as some medieval plague doctor in order to hide their identity. They are one of the main antagonists of LOTM: Los Reina de Corazónes, alongside Black Raven, being the most recurring and most direct villain and the Heavy of this storyline. The Mask is responsible for many tragedies of Future Maria as well as Future Selina Strawberry, who lost her friends and companions including Albert Apple, Baccarat Blueberry, Gregory Grape and Bubbly Begonia due to the Mask, who led Vira and her followers into the new HQ of the Order of Flourish in an attempt to destroy them. The real identity of the Black Mask was always shrouded in mystery, and people never know if they're actually male or female as they speak in a blurry and unrecognizable voice. Many of the Alliance never really sure whether the Mask is the same person. Future Helene Hawthorn assume that there were several person, who're at least all loyal to Ara Astaroth and her Dark Empire, take on the mantle of the Black Mask in order to harass the Alliance until its power was utterly wasted. However, Selina disagreed with it and believed that there was only one Mask of Black, and she felt she had knew the Mask before but could not tell who he or she is. Later, as the story itself getting progressed, it was revealed that there were three people taking the mantle of the Black Mask, one after another, but two of them were brainwashed puppets, while the third and final Black Mask appeared in front of Maria, turned out to be the real mastermind behind all of this conspiracy. The brainwashed Future Albert Apple and the brainwashed Future Carl Robinson appeared one by one as the 1st & 2nd Black Mask, respectively, and after their defeat, the real Black Mask reveals... herself. The Mask of Astaroth returns in LOTM: Star Spangled Crown as a recurring antagonist after Michael Langdon exposed Beatrice into his range of Nether Sorensen the Demon Prince's Crystal, fueling everything about the Astaroth Hell timeline into 's memory, causing her dark persona started to return and goaded into killing her friends, but this time, Beatrice refused to become such a monster and tried to resist. In Black Host Saga, the Mask serves as a supporting villain in Vampire Chronicles Arc. After Guinevere Arzonia and Sascha Vykos turned Beatrice into a Sabbat Vampire, Beatrice had to fought against herself and eventually died together with her dark persona after pushing her down to stop Future Gregory Grape's plan. The Mask of Astaroth is an OC Character created by User:Officer Candy Apple from CIS Productions. ''Overview Design and Appearance Name Introduction As revealed by the end of ''LOTM: LRdC, the Mask of Astaroth is origianlly a mask made of some of The Blackness and a legion of Ara Astaroth's familiars, including the late Phyllis Peach, able to possess its wielder once he/she wielded, taking over their mind and consuming their inner dark side as much as possible. It eventually gained its sentinence once Beatrice Bergamot becoming its host, corrupting her turning her into a Black Demon while secretly taking her form and gaining enough sentinence. The Mask itself can be independent from Beatrice's body (besides the body of its every hosts) while keeping the latter's Black Demon status, while it searched further into human's darker nature and tried to corrupt them into Black Demons as much as possible. The real Mask of Astaroth was later revealed to be a cobination of Beatrice Bergamot's dark side and the soul shard of Phyllis Peach, now becoming a familiar of Ara and convinced Beatrice to embrace Qliphoth in her hallucination. The Mask itself later gained sentince and enough power to broke free from Beatrice's body, when the latter was apparently moved by Selina's words. It transformed into a large mouth on the sky while speaking in a distorted version of Beatrice's voice, until the voice eventually reverted into Phyllis, revealing her true idenitity. ''Logo 318-51087.jpg Data Complete Monster Proposal ''The creator of the Mask of Black, also the original '"Mask of Astaroth", is surprisingly one of the most trusted allies of Selina Strawberry, whose name was '''Beatrice Bergamot, who acted as a troubled and loving person while in fact being a needlessly cruel and sadistic fallen hero who was willingly to be the minion of Astaroth Empire. Being the true main threat of LOTM: Los Reina de Corazónes that caused more Masks of Black copycats started to appear under her manipulation, Beatrice was once nice and loyal towards her friend, until the overpowering corrupting force from the Leohart's Cult influenced her, turning her fully evil after she started to succumb to her own jealousy that Albert Apple fell in love with Selina Strawberry. Beatrice also feel jealous that Selina was a perfect Croatoan Merger with her enhanced immortality, while Beatrice herself had to serve as her minion, and this became the key for Astaroth Empire to corrupt her. After being captured by Ara Astaroth, Beatrice was haunted by Phyllis Peach's ghost that was summoned by Ara. Under the manipulation of Phyllis' ghost, Beatrice absorbed the remaining power of Dark Arzonia and took Phyllis' legacy. After that, Beatrice intended to betray the Order of Flourish by letting Vira into Enchanted Forest, causing many deaths amongst Selina's fan club including their ringleader, the cheerful and warm-hearted Bubbly Begonia, who was brutally murdered by a masked Beatrice right in front of Selina. After forcing the once benevolent Enchanted Forest into a part of Astaroth Hell, Beatrice also captured Albert Apple for Vira to kill. Out of spite, Beatrice revived Albert and made him her pawn to be the seemly Mask of Black, manipulating Albert's dark side to compromise the remnants of La Nueva Familia de Arzonia while acting as her mouth to deliver her horrible tendency, while she secretly developed Albert's doppelgangers for hurting Selina only trying to amuse herself. After Albert failed to kill Selina and Maria and started to have his good side restored, Beatrice forced Vira to send a clone of Albert to kill him and replace him. After Albert's death, Beatrice assisted Michael Langdon in forcing Carl Robinson into the next Mask of Astaroth copycat, before extracting the Malice of Moloch from Carl and fusing it into the Mask, in case if Carl was defeated, someone could use that mask and being controlled by Moloch's remaining essence. After making Michael, Black Raven and a brainwashed Carl to crush the Alliance, with only Maria and Selina survived, Beatrice revealed herself and brutalized Drizzt Do'Urden and Carl as soon as the latter snapped out from the brainwashing, killing them both. Tired from pretending herself, Beatrice revealed herself as the true Mask of Black and fused herself with the Malice of Moloch so that she would obliterate all of her enemies via Moloch's power. Opposed to the formerly kind and loving Beatrice, this Beatrice in Astaroth Future serves as a hateful and sadistic enemy to the Alliance after fully succumbed to her dark side. In a way, she could be considered as a spiritual successor of Phyllis Peach, who once betrayed the Order of Flourish and corrupted everything inside. Beatrice started the same dread that Phyllis did, and she went much, much worse.'' ''Personal Information Physical Appearance Personality Masked - In General The Mask of Astaroth, no matter who was under that mask, always appears to have a personal hatred towards both Selina Strawberry and Maria Arzonia, but they have no qualm to make the personal hatred upgraded into a massive public atrocity, claiming they shall take everyone Selina and Maria loved away forever in order to make both of them suffer. They have no qualm killing innocent people who gets in her way, even including cheerful person. The Mask seemed to take optimism and happiness as a vulgar thing, since they forced the always happy Bubbly to cry via all sorts of brutal torture. Bitterly teasing Bubbly as a fanatic fan of Selina who wasted her life devoted on her, the Mask later forced Bubbly to weep blood before they killed her brutally in cold blood, right in front of Selina. The Black Mask even has an awful fetish on tears, like Melancholia, but went much worse since the Mask prefer blood tears and often drink martini added with children's blood tears. The Black Mask's awful crime quickly caused disgust in both Maria and even Black Raven, but the Black Mask never cared about it, claiming it was their own work to "squeeze moisture" out of children's crying face. According to Selina Strawberry when she told Katarina Couteau and The Rogues about the Black Mask, she said that the Black Mask is the mastermind behind many orphans' transformation into the Black Demon in order to break Maria's own moral code in never harming children. They also showed some sort of ecstasy when they saw Maria killing Black Demon children, as if they enjoyed every single minute that Maria had her moral code broken and turning into a blood-thirsty murderer who believes in the Absolute Justice. Despite mostly acting as an uncaring and cruel brute, the Black Mask also has their own intelligence. Their most cunning side appears when they use Maria's unstable nature as a proof to call Maria as a villain and the Alliance as a plague, supporting Michael Langdon's malevolent purge towards the Alliance and other rebels against the Astaroth Empire. The Black Mask is utterly loyal towards Ara Astaroth and they work with her with purpose, most likely to seek vengeance upon Maria and Selina (as B1-Killer Kampfdroide Unit-CM 130 deduced). Even so, no one knew how and why the Mask wanted to seek vengeance upon Maria or Selina, despite many suspected that the Mask knew both of them before... Unmasked - Particularly the Mastermind Astaroth Future The mastermind of the Mask of Astaroth turned out to be Beatrice Bergamot once her mask was dropped, revealing her to be the mastermind of Selina's downfall in Enchanted Forest. In an confrontation inside her mind palace between her and a vision of Phyllis Peach, Beatrice fully succumbs to her own villainy and becomes a Black Demon in order to destroy Selina Strawberry and gain her power. No longer calling herself as '''Bergamot', the Mask turns herself into a complete monster void of redemption and is willing to kill anyone in her way, becoming a combination of the real Beatrice and Phyllis Peach. The Mask is also an extremely skilled puppeteer. The way she treats her three puppets, who are Albert Apple, Carl Robinson and Gregory Grape, are the same with Phyllis Peach. She also shows no true loyalty to Ara either, as she tried to usurp the throne of Astaroth Empire just like how Phyllis usurped the place of Lord Helio, but her arrogance proved to be her own downfall at the hands of Black Raven, who killed her in order to silent her. She eventually becomes a threat that even Ara is alerted of, and so Ara planned to take the Mask down once The Alliance was destroyed. Apart from her power hunger, the Mask shows disdain and disrespect on her enemies. In most of the times, the Mask calls her enemies mostly through their aliases instead of their name, with a few exception (like Selina and Maria) under certain circumstances. However, some people were offended by her tendency, including Helene, who was called by the alias of "Masked Devil", an alias which Helene resented for life. Believing the name is a mask as well, the Mask even abandons her true name and outright claims everyone is wearing a invisible mask in the war, so there are no heroes or villains, just the order and chaos - something shared by Jasmine Porcelain who also claimed such to Drizzt Do'Urden. Such tendency makes the Mask utterly vainglorious and delusional. She treats everyone - including herself and Ara - as nothing but "products" of the Rise of Qliphoth era which are destined to live for the Astaroth Empire's Omniverse, referring the Astaroth Hell as a "factory". She believes that the heroes are products of chaotic era, and so everyone in the Alliance and The Revelation of Qliphoth are "products of the era" instead of lives. She refers death of her enemies and allies as "discontinuing a product", showing uncaring attitude to any of her minions. Her uncaring towards death had even disgusted Black Raven, Guinevere Arzonia and Oriax Wheelahr. Faking her calm, caring and sophisticated attitude towards her underlings, the Mask gains popularity inside her own faction, but in fact, she's an indecent, manipulative and remorseless control freak with a severe god complex who has no qualms of murdering others and committing underhanded deeds to get her way, like how she murdered her puppets like Albert, Carl, Guinevere and Gregory with no remorse. Her ultimate goal is to become the God and rule of the Omniverse with the heart of Idea of Evil, even going as far as committing mass genocide on all life on a certain planet to achieve this, and her jealousy towards Selina Strawberry, Vira Hermes, Aryana Westcott and Abyss Zurg are the main motivation of such since she believed the Order of Flourish belongs to her. Even Michael Langdon and Zelkron (B1-Killer Kampfdroide Unit-CM 130), who shared bitter rivalry, agree on the term of the Mask of Astaroth as a dangerous time bomb that needs to be disarmed as soon as possible, although Michael believes the Mask still have use to the Astaroth Empire and persuaded Zelkron to terminate her once she outlived their usefulness. Overall, the Mask is a dark embodiment of the vice within all evil members from the Order, including Phyllis Peach, Pedro Pineapple, Blaze Banana, Lillian Lime, Orlando Orange and Gladius Grapefruit altogether, which means she's an embodiment of gluttony, lust, jealousy, hatred, greed and solipsism. This made Selina to deduce that the Mask is actually a traitor from the Order of Flourish. ''New Period of Tribulation 's time power crystal effects]]Formerly believed to be obliterated for good along with the entire Astaroth Hell, the Mask of Astaroth seemed to be wiped out from everyone's memory, but not for long. Unbeknownst to everyone, Michael Langdon is the only person that once served the Astaroth Empire who retains his memory of Astaroth Hell, including the characteristics of Mask and her origin story, since he fused with his future counterpart and preserved his memory via the crystal of Nether Sorensen the Demon Prince hidden inside his body. The Mask of Astaroth returns once again in ''LOTM: Star Spangled Crown due to Michael, who exposed some people, including Beatrice, into the power range of Sorensen's crystal. It brought back the persona of Mask back into Beatrice's mind by showing her the dystopian future. Michael claims that the Mask of Astaroth is what Beatrice would eventually become. However, this time, Beatrice treats her dark persona in an utterly different attitude. In the Rise of Qliphoth era, under Ara's corrupting influence, Beatrice is willing to become the Mask out of pure jealousy. However, in the new timeline of the extended Period of Tribulations, Beatrice was terrified by her own dark persona and tried hard to push down her inner dark side, not wanting to hurt Albert or Selina with it. Beatrice knows the reason of the Mask's formation, and she decides to push it down via tolerating the romance between Albert and Selina, admitting Selina's leadership and helping the Order of Flourish to fight against Moloch's forces, but it was all in vain when Guinevere Arzonia exploits this and turns the Mask of Astaroth alive again as a hybrid between Sabbat Vampire and Black Demon, but Beatrice's mind is still confronting her dark side. At the same time as Beatrice's dark past was fully revealed, some of her more humane side had also influenced the Mask a little bit. After finally taking over in Sabbat Saga, the Mask of Astaroth started to show her more humane side like mourning Beatrice's late parents, and she even shed tears of blood when she heard about Beatrice's deceased parents, even though she was surprised by her own tears and had wondered if she had a part of humanity as well. In Vampire Chronicles Arc, the Mask was also horrified and disgusted by Future Gregory's plot of starting the sick killing game of Vampire Chronicles, claiming that he was a failure of Astaroth Queen and should be out of stock long ago. After being fatally injured by Future Gregory, the Mask began to lose control in her host, making Beatrice finally snapped from her possession via using the humanity shred inside her and defying the possession, not wanting anyone to hurt. This made the Mask of Astaroth failed in trying to take over Beatrice and died together with her, causing another alternative ending for her. Before her death, the Mask fully returned to her original personality and showed gratefulness for Abel Nightroad, who reminded that she was still a human to begin with. In spite of this, she urged Abel to kill Gregory with no mercy and end his misery once and for all, showing that the original innocence inside the original Beatrice also gone forever. Therefore, it was complicated to tell what kind of person the Mask/Beatrice ended up become. In spite of this, Abel believes that in her final moments, Beatrice finally finds herself. ''History Cameo Synopsis Hallucination Corruption Manipulation Remorse The True Mask Horrified by the literal Mask speaking, everyone reacted in shock, even including Beatrice, who questioned herself if she was going crazy or this mask had its own life. The Mask of Astaroth laughed and taunted that both might revealed that she was using Beatrice and the Astaroth Empire to destroy the Order of Flourish, before using the Blackness for herself. Beatrice was merely a tool used by the mask to hide her identity until the Alliance reached its breaking point. While the Mask was taunting Beatrice, her voice became less distorted and less similar to Beatrice's voice. Listening to the Mask's word, Helene reacted in horror when she remembered the voice, revealing the Mask was none other than Phyllis Peach, much to Melancholia / Plaisir, Michael and Selina's shock. After being recognized by Helene, Phyllis/the Mask laughed out taking a form of Black Demon Beatrice. She revealed she was turned into a familiar of Ara Astaroth and was amazed by the power of Qliphoth, and she seized the chance when Ara corrupted Beatrice by possessing the black mask and taunting Beatrice, turning her into the dark side. Now, since she had her own physical form thanks to all the despair she consumed, all she cared about was helping The Revelation of Qliphoth into crushing the Alliance. It was also her who turned Albert into a Black Demon, and it was her who murdered Gregory and framed the Alliance for it. She waited for the day to return back to her full power and become a general of Astaroth Empire. The Mask's condescending words caused the Qliphoth army disgusted. Michael and Black Raven sent Guinevere Arzonia to kill the Mask, but the Mask easily subdued her and devoured her, but not before causing her to hallucinate and keep remember her worst fear. After killing Guinevere by manipulating her worst fear, the Mask showed no qualm in killing Carl Robinson, Melancholia and Plaisir Permafrost, all of whom she used as tools. By consuming the Blackness from killing the Black Demon children alive, the Mask evolved into her ultra-demonic form, taunting the real Beatrice, who was shocked and remorseful over her misdeeds. The Fall of the Alliance Major Battles Abilities & Skills Power Levels Quotes Masked *"Tonight, we shall show the omniverse what it means to fear!"'' *''"Tell me. What scares you the most? Which mask are you wearing?"'' *''"Good evening. May I tell you who you really are? You're a hypocrite wearing a skin mask of human to hide the beast in your heart. Allow me to take it down for you, pal..."'' *''"Hello, Gregory. Who told you... that you could wear my mask?"'' *''"I appreciate your work, Vira... No, the Bird of Hermes. Besides, B1-Killer Kampfdroide Unit-CM 130... When I'm gone, you and the Revelation of Qliphoth worked so hard... to construct my own Astaroth Hell."'' *''"Can't you see? People says that the chaotic times spawns legendary people. All of you, whether you're heroes or villains, are actually products of this messy era. I myself is no exception. Nevertheless, without me, you'll never make such achievement. It's I who wear the mask and lead the Qliphoth to destroy the Order of Flourish, not Vira. Not even the Astaroth Queen. I'm the true factory of this era."'' *''"I administer this factory of chaotic omniverse from now on... and will be the judge of your fates. I'll set the rules of this world."'' ''Unmasked - Black Demon Beatrice *"Just tell them, pal, that Strawberry declares war."'' *''"A lesson needs to be taught. They won't look the other way -- not again."'' *''"Your parents are corrupt, Selina, and so are you. Can't you understand that I'm trying to do good things with the help of Astaroth King?"'' *''"I know why I wear mask. It's who I am, who I'm always seek to be. What about you, Arzonia? Do you ever wore a mask to hide? Or do you ever wear a mask to become who you really are!? Are you showing your face... or your mask?"'' *''- Selina: What're you doing, Beatrice? Stop this already, please! We were once friends!'' **''- Mask: ...................... Once.'' *''"You shouldn't be here, Arzonia. You shouldn't be defending her. You think Selina Sarandon is better than her father!? She hides behind her status and wealth! She's a coward."'' *''"Omniverse! Listen to me. Freedom is yours! The only one standing in your way... is Arzonia."'' *''"You belong in this place, Maria. Lost, forgotten, buried. This Omniverse will not mourn you. The sins of the Arzonia bloodline end here."'' ''True Form - Black Demon Phyllis Quotes about Mask of Astaroth Masked Unmasked *"Selina, I had a bad dream... that I killed you in jealousy out of no reason... Is that true? Because I'm afraid that I dreamed no mere imagination, but a scene of future..." - Mainstream Beatrice Bergamot'' *''"Even since she became an ally of Astaroth Empire, that Beatrice died... and reborn as a creature who learned only two things - hate and anger." - Future Helene Hawthorn'' *''"She's arguably just another version of Vira, but is a cold-blooded and merciless manipulator." - Black Raven'' *''"She's no longer Beatrice! She's now turning into someone like Phyllis herself!" - Future Kristen Kiwifruit'' ''Gallery Trivia *The mastermind behind the Mask of Astaroth is considered to be the main villain of ''LOTM: Los Reina de Corazónes as a whole since she and the Alliance has the most direct conflict than any other villains in the story, and she is the most recurring villain in the story as well. *Originally, the Mask's final identity is set to be Future Michael, with Albert and Carl as the first two Masks. The identity in the Old Script is changeable, being a mantle that passed on between three people. However, in the new script, it became a group of people taking the Mask at the same time, while only one of them is the real, while the rest are either copycats or subordinates. **It was later improvised that Phyllis Peach's soul and the dark side of Beatrice combining into the real Mask of Astaroth, so the Mask was neither entirely Phyllis nore entirely Beatrice, but an independent entity, but she had Phyllis' memory. *The Mask of Astaroth crew is inspired by Ghostface from the original Scream film series. *The Mask of Astaroth crew (also known as the Black Mask crew) is also inspired by the Red Devil and Green Meanie from the cancelled FOX TV series, Scream Queens, where the serial killers in the each story conspired together as a serial killing ring and took the same mantle, with one of them as the mastermind behind their crime (Hester Ulrich as the ringleader of Red Devil, and Ingrid Hoffel as the ringleader of Green Meanie). * The Mask of Astaroth serves as an archenemy to Future Maria in LOTM: Los Reina de la Corazones, to the good Beatrice Bergamot in Black Mask Saga, the Becoming the Mask spin-off & Black Host Saga, and to Future Gregory Grape in both storylines. *The Sabbat Version of the Mask, who reprised her role in LOTM: Star Spangled Crown, became much less heinous and sadistic than her Astaroth Future counterpart, basically because of the better side of Beatrice began to defy her dark side. *The Sabbat Version of the Mask, the one with the personality conflict, is inspired by Ultron Pym from the mainstream Marvel Comics, who is a combination of Ultron and Hank Pym's bodies and personalities. After Age of Ultron storyline, an accident merges Pym and Ultron during Ultron's latest attack. After the hybrid human/machine eventually abandons Earth, a funeral service is held in Pym's honor,and Scott Lang receives one of Hank's labs. Pym/Ultron resurfaces after helping the crew of a spaceship under attack. Ultron is now Pym's armor rather than being merged with him. Back on Earth, he rejoins the Avengers, but his teammates and others discover Ultron has gained control and is impersonating Pym. The Avengers end up defeating him by plunging him into the sun, but both Hank and Ultron survive and continue to do battle with one another internally. ''Inspirations Real-World Inspiration Duan Qirui Duan Qirui (Chinese: 段祺瑞; pinyin: Duàn Qíruì; Wade–Giles: Tuan Ch'i-jui; IPA: t͡ɕʰíɻu̯èi̯) (6 March 1865 – 2 November 1936) was a Chinese warlord and politician, a commander of the Beiyang Army and the acting Chief Executive of the Republic of China (in Beijing) from 1924–26. He was also the Premier of the Republic of China on four occasions between 1913 and 1918. He was arguably the most powerful man in China from 1916–20. In Europe World War I had reached a crucial point by 1916–17. Duan saw an opportunity to ingratiate China with the European powers and the US by declaring on the side of the Allies against Germany. By entering the war, Duan hoped for some quid pro quo from China's new allies, such as the cancellation of many of the indemnities and concessions that China had been forced to sign in the past. He also hoped that China could gain international prestige by involving itself in "The Great War". However, Duan was opposed again by both the president and vice-president, along with most of the parliament. He was impatient to gain parliament's approval through negotiation and resorted to bullying tactics with organized mobs. In response, president Li Yuanhong dismissed Duan as premier after parliament had voted to ask for his resignation. At this juncture a monarchist general, Zhang Xun, marched his army into Beijing and announced the restoration of the Qing dynasty on July 1, 1917. Outraged, the other Beiyang generals, led by vice-president Feng Guozhang, mobilized their forces and ended the short-lived restoration attempt. Duan was returned to power while Li Yuanhong, having had enough of Beiyang politics, resigned the presidency. A few days later China entered the First World War on the side of the Allies. Duan's strategy now was to negotiate financial loans with Japan, in exchange for concessions, to fund a military buildup for the conquest of the south. The political cover for this army was the entry of China into the First World War. With the poor state of the government's credit and European wartime expenses making both Western and domestic financing impossible, he secretly negotiated the first of the Nishihara Loans with Japan on September 29, 1917. In exchange he offered Japan the right to station troops in Shandong province--then a German concession--as well as the right to build and run two new Shandong railroads. There would be a high political price to pay when these negotiations came to light later on, but in the meantime Duan got the money for his army. This later became part of the reason for the Shandong Problem. Francisco Pizarro Francisco Pizarro González (/pɪˈzɑːroʊ/; Spanish: piˈθaro; c. 1471 – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish conquistador who led an expedition that conquered the Inca Empire. He captured and killed Incan emperor Atahualpa, and claimed the lands for Spain. On 10 November 1509, Pizarro sailed from Spain to the New World with Alonso de Ojeda on an expedition to Urabá. He sailed to Cartagena and joined the fleet of Martín Fernández de Enciso and, in 1513, accompanied Balboa to the Pacific. In 1514, he found a supporter in Pedro Arias Dávila, the Governor of Castilla de Oro and was rewarded for his role in the arrest of Balboa with the positions of mayor and magistrate in Panama City, serving from 1519 to 1523. Reports of Peru's riches and Cortés' success in Mexico tantalized Pizarro. He undertook two expeditions to conquer the Incan Empire in 1524 and in 1526. Both failed as a result of native hostilities, bad weather and lack of provisions. Pedro de los Ríos, the Governor of Panama, made an effort to recall Pizarro, but the conquistador resisted and remained in the south. In April 1528, he reached northern Peru and found the natives rich with precious metals. This discovery gave Pizarro the motivation to plan a third expedition to conquer the area. He returned to Panama to make arrangements, but the Governor refused to grant permission for the project. Pizarro returned to Spain to appeal directly to King Charles I. His plea was successful and he received not only a license for the proposed expedition, but also authority over any lands conquered during the venture. He was joined by family and friends and the expedition left Panama in 1530. When hostile natives along the coast threatened the expedition, Pizarro moved inland and founded the first Spanish settlement in Peru, San Miguel de Piura. Atahualpa refused to tolerate a Spanish presence in his lands, but was captured by Pizarro during the Battle of Cajamarca on 16 November 1532. A ransom for the emperor's release was demanded and Atahualpa filled a room with gold, but Pizarro charged him with various crimes and executed him on 26 July 1533, overriding his associates who thought he was overstepping his authority. The same year, Pizarro entered the Inca capital of Cuzco and completed his conquest of Peru. In January 1535, Pizarro founded the city of Lima, a project he considered his greatest achievement. Quarrels between Pizarro and his longtime comrade-in-arms Diego Almagro culminated in the Battle of Las Salinas. Almagro was captured and executed and, on 26 June 1541, his embittered son, Diego de Almagro "el mozo", assassinated Pizarro in Lima. The conquistador of Peru was laid to rest in the Lima Cathedral. La Malinche La Malinche (Spanish pronunciation: maˈlintʃe; c. 1496 or c. 1501 – c. 1529), known also as Malinalli maliˈnalːi, Malintzin maˈlintsin or Doña Marina maˈɾina, was a Nahua woman from the Mexican Gulf Coast, who played a key role in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, acting as an interpreter, advisor, and intermediary for the Spanish conquistador, Hernán Cortés. She was one of 20 women slaves given to the Spaniards by the natives of Tabasco in 1519. Later, she gave birth to Cortés' first son, Martín, who is considered one of the first Mestizos (people of mixed European and indigenous American ancestry). The historical figure of Marina has been intermixed with Aztec legends (such as La Llorona, a ghost woman who weeps for her lost children). Her reputation has been altered over the years according to changing social and political perspectives, especially after the Mexican Revolution, when she was portrayed in dramas, novels, and paintings as an evil or scheming temptress. In Mexico today, La Malinche remains iconically potent. She is understood in various and often conflicting aspects as the embodiment of treachery, the quintessential victim, or simply as symbolic mother of the new Mexican people. The term malinchista refers to a disloyal compatriot, especially in Mexico. Because of her controversial symbolization, a statue of La Malinche, Cortés, and their son Martín was removed soon after it was erected in Coyoacan, in the outskirts of Mexico City, in 1982. The statue was intended to be respectful of her trials and to emphasize the mestizo (or mixed-blood) character of the nation. However, student protests erupted: the protesters wanted no monument that presented Malinche in a positive light, for in their minds she was too closely associated with domination by outsiders and with betrayal. An Lushan An Lushan (c. 703 – 29 January 757) was a general in the Tang dynasty and is primarily known for instigating the An Lushan Rebellion. An Lushan was of Sogdian and Göktürk origin, at least by adoption. He rose to military prominence by defending the northeastern Tang frontier from the Khitans and other threats. He was summoned to Chang'an, the Tang capital, several times and managed to gain favor with Chancellor Li Linfu and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. This allowed An Lushan to amass significant military power in northeast China. After the death of Li Linfu, his rivalry with General Geshu Han and Chancellor Yang Guozhong created military tensions within the empire. In 755, An Lushan, following 8 or 9 years of preparation, instigated the An Lushan Rebellion, proclaiming himself the ruler of a new dynasty, Yan. In 757, An Lushan was assassinated by his own son, An Qingxu, following the deterioration of relations between him and his followers due to his growing paranoia. The state of Yan fell into turmoil and eventually collapsed in 763. Chen Jiongming Chen Jiongming (Chinese: 陳炯明; Wade–Giles: Ch’en Chiung-ming; 13 January 1878 – 22 September 1933), also romanized as Chan Kwing Ming in Cantonese, was a revolutionary figure in the early period of the Republic of China. Chen Jiongming was born in 1878 at Haifeng, Guangdong, China. He was by training a lawyer and became a Qing legislator, a republican revolutionary, a military leader, a civil administrator and a federalist who sought to reconstruct China as a democratic republic. He joined the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance in 1909 and obtained the post of commander-in-chief of the Guangdong Army. He became military governor of Guangdong three times (1911–12, 1913, 1920–23) and civil governor of Guangdong from 1920–22 and military governor of Guangxi from 1921-22. Chen was instrumental in backing Sun Yat-sen's Constitutional Protection Movement. He also restored Sun to power after the Guangdong-Guangxi War. Chen disagreed with Sun about the direction that reform should take—Sun wanted to unite the country by force and institute change through a centralized government based on a one-party system, while Chen advocated multiparty federalism with Guangdong becoming the model province and the peaceful unification of China. Sun became suspicious that the federalist movement was being exploited by the warlords to justify their military fiefdoms. Relations deteriorated further when Sun became "extraordinary president", a move not condoned by the Provisional Constitution. It was Chen who first invited the Chinese Communist Party to Guangdong against Sun's objection that the Communists might dilute the movement. After the First Zhili-Fengtian War in 1922 there was a strong movement to reunite the northern and southern governments by having both Sun and Xu Shichang resign their rival presidencies in favor of restoring Li Yuanhong as president of a united republic. Chen was enthusiastic but Sun felt the new government would be a powerless puppet of the Zhili clique. Sun Yat-sen and Chen Jiongming soon split over the continuation of the Northern Expedition. Sun conceived it to have begun with the occupation of Guangxi. From there he wished Chen to push into Hunan. After Wu Peifu of the Zhili clique in Beijing recognized his power in the south, Chen abandoned Sun. Unexpectedly revolting against the Kuomintang militarily in 1922, Chen led his forces to attack Sun's residence as well as office. Sun was forced to escape on HMS Moorhen and delay his Northern Expedition. With the help of Tang Jiyao, the KMT retook Guangzhou in 1923. Chen fled to Huizhou in eastern Guangdong after Sun's army defeated him. From 1923-25 the Guangdong government organized two eastern campaigns against him and he fled to Hong Kong, as his remaining forces were completely wiped out in 1925. He became an ally of Tang Jiyao, after Tang was expelled from the KMT following the Yunnan-Guangxi War. He was elected premier of the China Public Interest Party with Tang as his deputy. From Hong Kong he criticized the Nationalists' single-party system and continued to advocate multiparty federalism. After the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, he attacked Chiang Kai-shek's regime for its refusal to confront Japan and he organized boycotts of Japanese products. He died of typhus on September 22, 1933. Chen is considered a traitor and reactionary warlord by both the Kuomintang and the CCP for his rebellion against Sun in 1922. Sun's party quickly began to publish literature about Chen to discredit him. The Communists, who had entered into an alliance with Sun and who still regard him as the founding hero of the Chinese Revolution, have continued to characterize Chen as a counter-revolutionary. His party defended him as a true revolutionary and democrat by pointing out the tragedies, misgovernance and corruption caused by centralized, one-party dictatorship. After the China Public Interest Party formed a united front with the Communists in 1947, Chen's role has been obscured to the point of invisibility in the party's official history. Other than his family, his most vocal apologist is Chinese writer Li Ao. Akechi Mitsuhide Akechi Mitsuhide (明智 光秀, March 10, 1528 – July 2, 1582), first called Jūbei from his clan and later Koretō Hyūga no Kami (惟任日向守) from his title, was a samurai and general who lived during the Sengoku period of Feudal Japan. His full name was thus Akechi Jūbei Minamoto-no-Mitsuhide (明智 十兵衛 源の光秀). Mitsuhide was a general under daimyō Oda Nobunaga, who then became famous for his rebellion against Nobunaga in 1582, which led to Nobunaga's death at Honnō-ji. In 1579, Nobunaga captured Yakami Castle from Hatano Hideharu by promising Hideharu peace terms; however, Nobunaga betrayed the peace agreement and had Hideharu executed. This reputedly displeased the Hatano family, and a short while later several of Hideharu's retainers murdered Akechi Mitsuhide's mother (or aunt). The failing relationship between Nobunaga and Mitsuhide was further fueled through several public insults which Nobunaga directed at Mitsuhide. In 1582, Mitsuhide was ordered to march west and assist Hashiba Hideyoshi who was currently fighting the Mōri clan. Ignoring his orders, Mitsuhide assembled an army of 13,000 soldiers and moved against Nobunaga's position at Honnō-ji. On June 21, Mitsuhide was quoted as saying, "The enemy is at Honnō-ji!" His army surrounded the temple and eventually set it on fire. Oda Nobunaga was killed either during the fighting, or by his own hand. Nobunaga's son, Oda Nobutada, fled the scene, but was surrounded at Nijō and killed. Despite not killing Nobunaga personally, Mitsuhide claimed responsibility for his death. Mitsuhide's betrayal of the Oda shocked the capital, and he was forced to move quickly to secure his position. Mitsuhide, claiming lineage from the Toki and thus the Minamoto clan, declared himself shōgun, and looted Azuchi castle to reward his men and maintain their loyalty. Mitsuhide attempted to make gestures of friendship to a panicked Imperial Court; he also made many attempts to win over the other clans, but to no avail. Hosokawa Fujitaka, to whom he was related through marriage, quickly cut ties with him. Fictionalized Inspiration Queen Bansheera Queen Bansheera (simply known as Bansheera) is the Queen of Demons and the main antagonist of Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue. She is perhaps one of the (if not ''the) darkest villains in the whole Power Rangers franchise, and one of the few Power Rangers villains who are not only 100% serious but also highly disturbing. Queen Bansheera could be described as traitorous, ruthless, cruel, and insane. Nothing short of being obsessive and pathological, Bansheera would go to any lengths of returning to power and became notorious for sacrificing her minions to achieve her agenda. The first most significant realization of Bansheera's obsession is expressing how pleased she was that Diabolico, Vypra, and Loki had imprisoned her son Olympius in the Shadow World, seeing her own son as expendable just as her other minions. After she had consumed Vypra's energy to obtain her full body, Bansheera became dangerously unstable with power. The Rangers and her demon minions were not safe from her madness. However, much to her credit, Bansheera did prove to be a loving mother when Olympius was still the infant Impus. When she returned to the Skull Cavern after a long and unexplained absence, she expressed her joy in seeing Impus again. Also, considering that Impus had for some time had a longing for his mother Queen Bansheera, further proves the Queen's nurturing side. She is shown to expect her forces to remain loyal no matter what. When Diabolical's spirit returned one last time, she was expecting him to help her, despite the fact she made him kill his best friend. She was portrayed by Diane Salinger. ''Freddie Krueger Frederick Charles "Freddy" Krueger, more publicly known as Freddy Krueger, is a legendary serial killer and the main antagonist of the 1984 classic horror film ''A Nightmare on Elm Street, and its many sequels; as well as the true main antagonist in the crossover film Freddy vs Jason. He was a child killer in life, and in death, a malevolent ghost who killed his victims in their dreams. His biological mother, Amanda Krueger (now known as Sister Mary Helena), was a nun at the old Hathaway House asylum (once renamed "Fairview Hospital") who gave birth to Freddy after she was raped hundreds of times when she was accidentally locked in a cell of a hundred psychotic men in the 1940s a few nights before Christmas. Throughout his childhood, he was sent from orphanage to orphanage, where he constantly endured humiliation by the other children, who thought of him as a freak, even continuously referred to him as the "Son of 100 Maniacs". He was eventually adopted by an abusive alcoholic, Mr. Underwood, who constantly neglected and physically abused him, until Freddy finally retaliated for all those tormenting years by killing him with a razor blade when he was a teenager. Freddy then moved to Springwood, Ohio, where he secretly became a child murderer, killing dozens of children on Elm Street. His actions eventually earned him the alias "Springwood Slasher", where he killed several kids inside a boiler room within an old power plant where he used to work. His signature weapon was a clawed glove. When his wife, Loretta, discovered his secret, he strangled her to death in front of his daughter, Kathryn, who also found out about the murders, but promised she would never tell. However she did in fact tell someone and Freddy was arrested and put on trial. When Amanda found out on the news, she committed suicide. Unfortunately, Freddy was released because someone forgot to sign a search warrant in the right place, preventing the court from convicting him. So, the furious parents of Springwood formed a lynch mob and tracked Freddy to his boiler room hideout where he was preparing to skip town (though not before celebrating his release by brutally murdering a little girl), and lit the building on fire with torches and molotov cocktails, burning him to death. However, three Dream Demons approached him before his death, where they made a deal, so that he could come back as a malevolent spirit and continue his killing spree from beyond the grave on the children where their parents cannot protect them; in their dreams. Freddy was made immortal because of this and began a new killing spree, making the murders look like accidents or suicide. After he killed his victims, he would absorb their souls into his chest for power. He was portrayed by the famous veteran actor Robert Englund in the entire original film series and Freddy vs. Jason. Later, he was portrayed by Jackie Earle Haley in the 2010 remake. ''Roman Bridger Roman Bridger is one of the main antagonists of the original ''Scream trilogy and the main antagonist of Scream 3, with his cousin being the main antagonist of the fourth movie. He is a young music video director who landed the Stab 3 job where he enacted his revenge against Sidney Prescott. After he revealed that he was the architect behind the Ghostface murder sprees and thus indirectly responsible for the events of the series, he fought Sidney to the death and lost, he was then killed by Dewey. Roman was the son of Maureen Prescott, who was serial raped at a party. He was adopted shortly after his birth. The next several decades, he searched for his birth mother, who he believed to be a former unknown Hollywood actress going by the stage name of Rena Reynolds. During his research, he finds out that his mother was a victim of a rape at John Milton's mansion, from which she never fully recovered from and eventually turned her into a "slut". He found her several years later, learning that her true name was Maureen Prescott. He also discovered that she had started a new life in the small town of Woodsboro after the incident in Los Angeles. She was living with her husband, Neil Prescott, and a daughter, Sidney Prescott. He eventually gained the courage to go to Maureen, revealing himself to be her son and expected her to welcome him into her life. Unfortunately, he was sorrily mistaken. All she did was say that he was "Rena's child and Rena was dead" and slammed the door in his face, leaving him out in the cold to fend for himself. Roman then swirled into an obsessive rage and used his movie-making skills to film Maureen and her affairs with Cotton Weary and Hank Loomis, the father of Sidney's high school boyfriend, Billy Loomis. Using his footage of Maureen's affair with Hank, he explained to Billy why his mother moved out and abandoned him. This enraged Billy and after supplying him with some deadly motivation and pointers, Billy was convinced by Roman to kill Maureen. Roman advised on getting a weak-willed accomplice to take the fall in case things didn't go as planned and Billy used his best friend, Stu Macher. After the murder of Maureen, Roman left Woodsboro and continued on with his career as a music video director. He was portrayed by Scott Foley. In the Japanese dub, he's voiced by Ryotaro Okiayu. ''The Batman Who Laughs The Batman Who Laughs is a supervillain in the DC Comics universe. He is a "Jokerized" version of Batman who originated from the Dark Multiverse. He is the team leader of the Dark Knights and their goal is to help their master Barbatos plunge the Multiverse into complete and utter darkness. This course of action makes them enemies of the Justice League. He serves as the secondary antagonist of the event Dark Nights: Metal. The Batman of Earth -22 was drugged and captured by the Joker who went on to destroy Gotham City. The Clown Prince Of Crime killed Batman's entire rogue's gallery, murdered Jim Gordon by dissolving him, set the city alight by blowing up various buildings, and had his goons line up families so he could kill the parents and infected their children with Joker toxin, all in front of Batman. The Caped Crusader eventually managed to break free of his bonds in a murderous rage and brutally beat the Joker before snapping his neck, killing him. Two days later, Batman explained to Superman that the reason Joker went so far was that he was dying from the chemicals that transformed him many years ago. However, although Joker succeeded in making him break his “one rule”, Batman refused to let that turn him into a monster like the clown wanted. With the GCPD and Arkham Asylum in ruins, Superman had the “Jokerized” children quarantined at S.T.A.R. Labs while Batman returned to the Batcave to begin running some tests. Superman mentions how one of the children nearly tore a doctor's throat out, and then Batman laughs, surprising both of them. Three days later, the whole Bat Family besides Robin were in the Batcave going through some very vigorous training. Nightwing knew that something was troubling Batman and the Dark Knight revealed that he was exposed to a new strain of nanotoxin that had been inside the Joker’s heart and was released when Joker was killed. The toxin slowly rewrote Bruce's mind to become more like the Joker's, which lead the Bat Family to deduce they were training to fight Batman. However, Batman claimed that the real reason why he brought them to the cave was that they would be the first to stop him, before suddenly revealing a pair of rifles and shooting the Bat Family dead. One week later, Batman had killed the entire Justice League aboard the Watchtower except for Superman and his family. Batman told the Man of Steel that he intended to use all the weapons they have confiscated over the years against the world just because he wants to since he no longer feels he has to hold himself back anymore. Superman responded that the world would rise up to stop him, but this claim just added to Batman's amusement. The Bat then revealed his new family of Jokerized Robins, among which was his son Damian Wayne, before exposing Superman to a strain of Black Kryptonite, claiming to have done the same thing to Supergirl previously, causing him and his son Jon to kill Lois Lane in a berserk state before dying themselves as part of the side effects. Eventually, the world fell to Batman after he brought down all manner of opposing forces, ranging from armies to gods. Bruce believed he could not sink any lower until he met Barbatos, who showed him the nature of the Dark Multiverse and the existence of the central Multiverse above it. Batman was then tasked by Barbatos to locate his counterparts on other Earths to form a group of Dark Knights, which he will lead as The Batman Who Laughs, and aid in the deity’s conquest of the central Multiverse. Ultraman Belial Ultraman Belial is a major antagonist in the Ultraman franchise. He is the primary antagonist of Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends The Movie and Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial, as well as Ultra Zero Fight, and recently Ultraman Geed. Belial was once among the most powerful and respected warriors in the Land of Light, until his greed overcame him and he tried to steal the Plasma Spark to have its power for himself. Unfortunately for him, the light of the Spark proved too much for him to handle and his crimes were soon discovered. Belial was banished to a lonely planet for his crimes against the Ultras, where he encountered the spirit of Alien Rayblood. Rayblood bestowed upon him Reionyx powers, corrupting Belial into the dark Ultra he is now. With the Giga Battlenizer in hand, Belial began plotting to conquer the Land of Light and get his revenge on the Ultras. Belial's most notable personality traits are his greed and pride. He is unwilling to share power and will often kill those who try to rule beside him. However in Geed, he seems to have a sense of recognition towards his own son despite the differences in their alignment in a similar way to most parents. Upon seeing into his mind during their final battle, Geed remarks that Belial is filled not only rage over his banishment, but sorrow, implying that deep down Belial is saddened by his banishment but will never admit to it, nor the fact that his own actions caused it in the first place. Geed also states that Belial is fatigued by his countless resurrections but too consumed by his hatred to ever let go. Belial himself does not refute this idea, and merely expressed rage at the idea Geed could ever understand his pain. Ingrid Marie Hoffel Ingrid Marie Hoffel (née Bean) is the main antagonist on Season Two of Scream Queens. She was an advanced practice registered nurse and the head of administration at C.U.R.E Institute Hospital. In Blood Drive, she officially became a Green Meanie, teaming up with Cassidy in hopes of getting revenge on the Chanels for murdering her sister, Agatha Bean. She first appeared to be a strict and oppressive authoritarian with a distaste of the Chanels, but it gradually becomes apparent that she is a much more malevolent character as she becomes more vicious in her actions and appears to be planning something significant. She is revealed to be the sister of Agatha Bean and the newest Green Meanie, along with Cassidy Cascade and Wes Gardner. She is portrayed by Kirstie Alley. Hester Ulrich Hester Ulrich is the main antagonist of Season 1 and a major antagonist in Season 2 of the FOX television series Scream Queens. She is revealed to be the Red Devil, along with her twin-brother, Boone Clemens. She is the brains of the operation and the final Red Devil, having been the one who orchestrated the events. Hester is crazy, two-faced and obsessed with death. She is incredibly different from the other girls in Kappa Kappa Tau. She has a serious obsession with death, dead bodies and strangely, gets sexually attracted to them. She always has the idea of death flowing into her mind. She is a massive Chanel wannabe, and will do anything to please and protect Chanel, and is loyal towards her. At the same time, she wants to take everything from Chanel, and become the true leader of Kappa house. She wants to actually become Chanel #1 and will do anything to steal Chanel's boyfriend, Chad, and will even lie about being pregnant. Hester likes to take her life to the extreme and experiment, but deep down she is actually pretty afraid and human, like when her and Chad found Ms. Bean's body in the Haunted House thinking it was a wax figurine. Hester was acting seductive, but when she found out Ms. Bean's body was real, Hester screamed and freaked out. Unlike her twin brother, Hester is very open about her psychotic death obsessed personality, and is calm and comfortable when someone points it out. This allows Hester to slip past and fool everyone into thinking she is not the Red Devil. She is portrayed by Lea Michele. Othello Othello is a character in Shakespeare's Othello (c. 1601–1604). The character's origin is traced to the tale "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio. There, he is simply referred to as the Moor. Othello is a brave and competent soldier of advanced years and Moorish background in the service of the Venetian Republic. He elopes with Desdemona, the beautiful daughter of a respected Venetian senator. After being deployed to Cyprus, Othello is manipulated by his Ancient (pronounced Ensign) Iago into believing Desdemona is an adulteress. Othello murders her and, upon discovering Iago's deceit, kills himself. Othello has its source in the 1565 tale "Un Capitano Moro" from Gli Hecatommithi by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio. While no English translation of Cinthio was available in Shakespeare's lifetime, it is probable that Shakespeare knew both the Italian original and Gabriel Chappuy's 1584 French translation. Cinthio's tale may have been based on an actual incident occurring in Venice about 1508. It also resembles an incident described in the earlier tale of "The Three Apples", one of the stories narrated in the One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights). Desdemona is the only named character in Cinthio's tale, his other characters being identified as the Moor, the squadron leader, the ensign, and the ensign's wife. While Shakespeare closely followed Cinthio's tale in composing Othello, he departed from it in some details, particularly in the tale's depiction of Desdemona's death. In Cinthio, the Moor commissions his ensign to bludgeon Desdemona to death with a sand-filled stocking. In gruesome detail, Cinthio follows each blow, and, when the lady is dead, the Moor and his ensign place her lifeless body upon her bed, smash her skull, and then cause the cracked ceiling above the bed to collapse upon her, giving the impression the falling rafters caused her death. The two murderers escape detection. The Moor then misses his wife greatly, and comes to loathe the sight of his ensign. He demotes him, and refuses to have him in his company. The ensign then seeks revenge by disclosing to "the squadron leader" (the tale's Cassio counterpart), the Moor's involvement in Desdemona's death. The two men denounce the Moor to the Venetian Seignory. The Moor is arrested, transported from Cyprus to Venice, and tortured, but refuses to admit his guilt. He is condemned to exile; Desdemona's relatives eventually put him to death. The ensign escapes any prosecution in Desdemona's death but engages in other crimes and dies after being tortured. Othello was first mentioned in a Revels account of 1604 when the play was performed on 1 November at Whitehall Palace with Richard Burbage almost certainly Othello's first interpreter. Modern notable performers of the role include Paul Robeson, Orson Welles, Richard Burton, James Earl Jones, Laurence Fishburne, Laurence Olivier, and Avery Brooks. Norman Osborn Norman Osborn is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 (cover dated July 1964) as the original and most well-known incarnation of the Green Goblin. As the amoral industrialist head of Oscorp, Norman was exposed to an experimental formula which enhanced his physical abilities and intellect, but also drove him to insanity. Having endured as Spider-Man's archenemy, Osborn has been part of the superhero's defining stories including "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" and the "Clone Saga". He is the father of Harry Osborn. Although his primary obsession is Spider-Man, he often comes into conflict with other superheroes in the Marvel Universe. As the Goblin, he adopted a Halloween-themed appearance: dressing in a goblin costume, riding on a bat-shaped "Goblin Glider", and using an arsenal of high-tech weapons, such as grenade-like "Pumpkin Bombs", to terrorize New York City. Although Osborn sometimes works with other supervillains such as Doctor Octopus and Mysterio, and groups like the Sinister Six and the Dark Avengers, these relationships often collapse due to his desire for unbridled chaos. In 2009's "Dark Reign" story arc, Osborn gained new status as a public hero and became the original wielder of the Iron Patriot armor. The character has been in various top villain lists as one of Spider-Man's greatest enemies and one of the greatest comic book villains of all time. The character's popularity has seen him appear on a variety of merchandise, inspire real-world structures (such as theme park attractions), and be referenced in a number of media. Osborn has been adapted to serve as Spider-Man's adversary in live-action, animated, and video game incarnations. The character has been portrayed in film by Willem Dafoe in the 2002 film Spider-Man and Chris Cooper in the 2014 film The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Among others, actors Neil Ross, Alan Rachins, Steven Weber and Josh Keaton provided Osborn's voice in the animated Spider-Man series of 1981, 1994, 2008, 2012 and 2017. Myotismon Myotismon, known as Vamdemon in the Japanese version, is one of the major antagonists in the Digimon Adventure seasons of the Digimon anime series. He is presumably the most evil of all the evil Digimon and if one were to be picky, one could say Myotismon is the Big Bad of the entire Digimon Adventure. He also reappeared in the videogame Digimon World Data Squad and in the anime Digimon Fusion (season 3). In Digimon Fusion, NeoMyotismon is one of the major antagonists in Season 2 of Digimon Fusion and one of the Dark Generals. Myotismon is an Ultimate Level Digimon. His appearance is of a vampire, with pale blue skin, gold hair and a red, bat-like eye mask. He is also dressed elegantly as a gentleman and also has a red vampire-like cape. It seems that whenever he is destroyed, his shadowy spirit form will return and can be revived in a stronger Digivolved form through certain procedures. The only way to finish him off for good is to destroy his shadow form. Yami Bakura Dark Bakura or Yami Bakura is one of the main antagonists of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. He almost always appeared when he possessed his host, Bakura Ryou. Born from the fusion of the Yami God Zorc Necrophades and the powerful and maniacal grave robber, Thief King Bakura, the Spirit of the Millennium Ring was a sadistic, powerful thief who would kill to get what he wanted. Bakura Ryou was similar to Yugi in sense of personality. Meanwhile, Yami Bakura genuinely started off as being similar to Yugi's Yami side, who challenged those who would bully his original personality and put them under a Penalty Game that, in his case, had to do with whatever game that they were playing, and sucked their souls into the game while their bodies fell into a coma. In that, Bakura formed as a foil to Yugi. As the combination of both the souls of Zorc Necrophades and the Thief King, Yami Bakura in the Japanese and manga versions, resides in the Millennium Ring, his possession could apply to both the ring and its unfortunate wearer. In the overall story, Yami Bakura was the central and most recurring antagonist in Yu-Gi-Oh!. However, he was merely a servant/avatar to the true main antagonist of the series. In the first anime series produced by Toei, he was voiced by Tsutomu Kashiwakura. In the second anime series, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, he was voiced the late Yo Inoue (only in Duelist Kingdom Arc) and later by Rica Matsumoto (in the rest of his appearance) in Japanese version, and by Ted Lewis in 4Kids' English dub. Beyond Birthday Beyond Birthday (ビヨンド=バースデイ, Biyondo Bāsudei) is the main antagonist of Death Note - Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases. He was the second child taken in at Wammy's House, in an attempt to create a successor for L, and the serial killer behind the Los Angeles: BB Murder Case. Beyond Birthday has never appeared in the manga, anime, or film series to date, but the Los Angeles: BB Murder Case was briefly alluded to in both manga and anime. Little is known about Beyond, though he and A (real name unknown) were the first two children in line to succeed L. The pressure of Wammy's House proved to be too great for A, which caused him to commit suicide, while B left Wammy's House at some unknown point. Beyond's whereabouts remained unknown from May 2002 to the beginning of the story, L having tracked cases around the world to search for him. Beyond came up with a plan to surpass L, as the "World's Greatest Criminal", giving L a case that Beyond hoped he would be unable to solve. Beyond is described to look much like L, having black hair and shadows under his eyes. He is seen sitting in L's favored position, and walking hunched over. However, he does not actually look like this at all. Beyond Birthday is said to have worn many layers of makeup in order to disguise himself. It is likely that he chose to intimidate L. His natural eye color is unknown, though the general assumption is that he wears grey contacts to further disguise himself as L. Given that Beyond imitates L throughout the novel, it is unknown what actions are a charade, and what actions are a genuine trait of his personality. Beyond is once seen eating strawberry jam out of a jar with his hands, which he seems to crave, as he has multiple jars of it stored in a victim's fridge. Although mentioned only once in the book, it is also implied that Beyond often practices laughing. It is interesting to note that his laughter is referred to by Mello as "the laugh of a Shinigami." Beyond was "born" with Shinigami Eyes, which allowed him to see and know when exactly people around him would die, as well as knowing their full names. He uses this ability to pick his victims and kill them when they would have been destined to die. It is unknown how he could have possibly been "born" with the eyes, though Mello wonders if a Shinigami dropped its eyeballs to Earth (instead of a Death Note). Griffith Griffith is the current leader of the reborn Band of the Falcon and Supreme Commander of the Midland Regular Army. As the messianic "Falcon of Light", he has been at the fore of many battles, having amassed a reputation as a savior across the continent. He is the main antagonist of ''Berserk. As the leader of the previous Band of the Falcon, he and his mercenaries are able to end the Hundred-Year War and bring peace to the war-torn kingdom of Midland. With the momentous desertion of his most trusted confidant Guts, however, Griffith beds Princess Charlotte on impulse, bringing about his imprisonment, year-long crippling torture, and the seeming demise of his dream. Though he is eventually rescued by the band, his state of extreme invalidity and undying desire to obtain his own kingdom compel him to sacrifice his comrades during the fifth Eclipse, for kinsmanship with the God Hand as their fifth member Femto – a demonic, idealized version of himself stripped of his empathy and human inhibitions. In time, he is reincarnated into the Physical World, concerned solely with the realization of his dream, which comes to pass with his thwarting of the Kushan invasion of Midland, the Blast of the Astral World he brings forth, and the remarkable rise of his utopian capital city, Falconia. Griffith has always carried himself in a well-mannered, exemplary fashion almost indistinguishable from that of nobility; his mannerisms, coupled with his keen intellect, often leave people astounded at his humble origins. His most notable trait, however, is his otherworldly charisma. Leadership has always come naturally to him. Those who choose to follow Griffith typically are overcome with emotions upon their first encounter with him, either entranced by the thought of splendor and grandeur at his side, or reeled in by his strong sense of ambition and conviction. Even as a child, Griffith's strong sense of self and ambition were apparent. It is in the back alleys of his childhood city where he first sets his sights on acquiring his own kingdom. He has a multi-faceted demeanor during the earlier years of the band, at times appearing carefree, and almost child-like, while other times demonstrating ferocious killing intent and deadliness. This juxtaposition of undeniable distinction and common-born idiosyncrasies is what attracts people of varying walks of life to his mercenary band. In spite of his large following, in his earlier years, Griffith's ego is never noticeably inflated; after one of the Band of the Falcon's earlier skirmishes, he even takes the time to lament the death of a ten-year-old Falcon-in-training, remembering the boy's name and expressing regret over compelling the young soldier to join his cause. The deaths of those fighting for his dream take a toll on him, however. In order to cope with the loss of them and ensure their deaths aren't in vain, Griffith begins relying on cold logic and reasoning, placing higher precedence on success than compassion – paradoxically expressing compassion for his comrades by suppressing it. It is not long before he is completely apathetic to his comrades' deaths. Even then, he still possesses his humanity, and questions his immoral schemes, at one point inquiring of Guts if he is a cruel person. The high esteem to which he is held does eventually have an effect on his ego, however. Despite the affection he displays towards some comrades, Griffith comes to believe they are beneath him, nonetheless, considering them nothing more than tools for achieving his dream, with none of them fitting his criteria of a true friend. Among the tens of thousands of allies and enemies he encounters, Guts is the only one who manages to stifle Griffith's ambition and make him forget about his dream. He explicitly displays care for Guts, on several occasions risking his life to save the swordsman and even losing his composure upon Guts' endangerment. It is because of this that his ego crumbles after Guts' departure; so accustomed to seizing all of his desires, Griffith forgoes all logical reasoning upon losing his most treasured soldier, throwing away all he has achieved and endangering the Band of the Falcon after suffering merely one loss. When he invokes the Eclipse and is presented with a reflection of his true self, he comes to terms with who he sees – a slave to the god named dream, first and foremost – and accepts the consequences of his ambition. Griffith's rebirth as Femto brings about the crystallization of his ambition, rendering him undeterred by moral inhibitions and focused solely on the realization of his dream. He has stated that, save for the residual feelings of his infant vessel, he is now "free" – his heart frozen as a member of the God Hand. As a consequent of his ascension, Midlanders often remark that Griffith now possesses an untouchable, inhuman presence. Regardless, Femto is still, in essence, pre-Eclipse Griffith, devoid only of some fundamental human emotions while still possessing his memories, ambition, and ego. ''Ultron Ultron is a major antagonist from Marvel Comics. He is a highly delusional robot who is bent on destroying humanity in order to replace humans with machines, and is an archenemy of the Avengers alongside his creator - Hank Pym. He serves as the primary antagonist of the Ultron Unlimited and Age of Ultron storylines and many others. Although Ultron first appears in Avengers #54 (1968), the character is disguised for the majority of the issue as the "Crimson Cowl", with his face only revealed on the last page of the issue and no name given to the character. The character leads the Masters of Evil against the Avengers, having hypnotized Edwin Jarvis into working for him. In the following issue Avengers #55 (August 1968), the character is identified as Ultron-5, The Living Automaton. In Avengers #57–58 (October–November 1968), a flashback sequence revealed that Ultron created the "synthezoid" Vision as a weapon to destroy the Avengers. The Vision—having Wonder Man's brain patterns—destroys Ultron with the Avengers' aid. Further flashbacks reveal that Ultron is Hank Pym's creation, and is based on Pym's brain patterns. The robot gradually developed its own intelligence and rebelled, and almost immediately develops an Oedipus complex, whereby it feels irrational hatred for Hank, and demonstrates an interest in the Wasp (Janet van Dyne). Rebuilding itself, learning how to turn itself on, and upgrading five times, Ultron then hypnotizes and brainwashes his "father" into forgetting that the robot had ever existed. The character's next appearance is in Avengers #66–68 (July–September 1969), where the character, now referring to itself as Ultron-6, uses the fictional alloy adamantium to upgrade his body to an almost indestructible state and takes the new name Ultimate Ultron. His plans to destroy humanity are again thwarted by the Avengers. During the Age of Ultron storyline, which takes place in an alternate universe, Ultron has returned and conquers the world while slowly remolding it into his image. His Ultron Sentinels are guarding the streets looking for any fugitives. Hawkeye runs into the Ultron Sentinels as he was rescuing the Superior Spider-Man yet manages to destroy the Ultron Sentinels present. It is later revealed that Ultron is actually in the future and has been using Vision as a conduit to punish humanity. While one strike team travels into the future to fight Ultron, Wolverine and the Invisible Woman go back in time to kill Pym before Ultron's creation in the first place. This results in a world where Tony Stark controls an army of robotic drones and Morgan le Fay has conquered half of the world. Traveling back in time once more, Wolverine succeeds in stopping himself from killing Pym, and Wolverine, Pym and Susan Storm come up with a different plan. This plan results in a different outcome of the prior confrontation between the Avengers and the Intelligencia - a 'back door' installed into Ultron at his original creation allows Hank and Iron Man to destroy the robot, instead, averting the events that led to the "Age of Ultron". It is later revealed that years earlier, the Avengers had trapped an unidentified iteration of Ultron in deep space after sealing him inside a Vibranium Quinjet. In the present, the Quinjet crash lands on Titan, freeing Ultron. By hijacking the ISAAC computer, he transforms Titan into Planet Ultron, and launches a plan to infect the entire universe with a nanite virus that transforms organic creatures into Ultron Sentries. The ensuing confrontation with the Avengers leads to Ultron inadvertently merging with Hank Pym, transforming them into a human/machine hybrid, the resulting creation playing on Hank's self-loathing of his own human weakness to cause him to accept his new state. He is defeated when Starfox's powers force Ultron to love himself, causing the part of Ultron that is now Hank to accept his old weakness and flaws while the villain has a mental breakdown and flees into space. As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel branding, Hank Pym/Ultron resurfaced. While on his way back to Earth, Pym helped the crew of a spaceship that was being attacked by a hostile insectoid alien. After coming aboard the spaceship, Hank introduced himself as well as his "friend" Ultron to the crew. He later returns to Earth, where the Wasp and Captain America discover that Ultron has taken complete control and is using Pym's face to fool his maker's old friends. After Ultron incapacitates Deadpool, Cable, and the Human Torch, Wasp initiates the Icarus Protocol and Iron Man is called in to help stop Ultron with the aid of the Hulkbuster Armor. The Avengers end up defeating Ultron by plunging the hybrid into the sun, but both Hank and Ultron survive and continue to do battle with one another internally. 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